21st Century Cures Update

When lawmakers head back to Washington, D.C. this week, one of the votes they have ahead of themselves is the 21st Century Cures bill, legislation that is intended to spur the development of new medical treatments. The bill was updated the Friday after Thanksgiving, leaving many of the provisions of previous versions intact, but also adding language intended to improve America’s mental health system and dedicates $1 billion over the course of two years to help combat the opioid epidemic.   The updated package directs $4.8 billion in funding over a decade to the National Institutes of Health and includes $1.4 billion for President Obama’s Precision Medicine Initiative, $1.8 billion for Vice President Joe Biden’s cancer “moonshot” program, and $1.6 billion for a program focused on enhanced understanding of brain-related diseases like Alzheimer’s. The bill would be paid for mostly through sales of the U.S. strategic petroleum reserve and a fund created in the 2010 health care overhaul intended to promote disease prevention and public health. The vehicle for the new bill will be existing legislation (HR 34) related to tsunami warning systems. Since the Senate has already passed an amended version of that bill, the package could be sent from the House back to the upper chamber and acted on relatively quickly. The vote is expected to take place on Wednesday, under suspension of the rules, preventing any amendments. House Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred ...
Source: Policy and Medicine - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs